


tt's just you and I tonight (why don't you figure my heart out)

by hezenvengeance



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Love Confessions, im being utterly self indulgent go away, this is the first thing im posting here oh god
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 20:33:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17189927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hezenvengeance/pseuds/hezenvengeance
Summary: Yusei surprises Rana with a very thoughtful gift.





	tt's just you and I tonight (why don't you figure my heart out)

Being woken up by Yusei is not unusual, in of itself. Rana’s used to the thrashing and desperate whispers that his nightmares bring. After all, if it’s not him, it’s her; the ghosts of the dark signers haunt them all.

But when she cracks her eyes open after being shaken awake and finds the sky still black and Yusei peering down at her with excitement on his face instead of fear, she’s a little bit pissed off.

They’ve been sleeping next to each other at the garage since Rana finalised the Daedalus Bridge project. She prefers the lively small space to the luxury housing her position provides - She’s lived in an empty mansion for far too long as it is, and knows Saiga and his steadily growing brood will appreciate the space more than she ever could. Jack and Crow dug at them the first few nights, but after the pair showed no signs of caring or stopping they simply left it alone. Crow was confident that they weren’t and were never going to be involved, just close, touch-starved friends; Jack (knowing better, for once) surmised that Yusei’s sleeping location being so open would prevent any shenanigans, not to mention the fact they were all usually too tired to do much more than chat idly about the day over dinner before turning in.

Rana pushes Yusei’s face away, groggily sitting up and peering at the clock on the wall. 12:06am.

The warmth under her hand has vanished, and Rana blinks a few times before surmising that yes, Yusei is putting on his boots and shrugging into his riding jacket at six minutes past midnight, and is looking at her with every expectation that she’ll do the same.

She can already feel a headache coming on. Yusei is lucky she likes him; it makes resisting the temptation to smother him with his own pillow a bit easier.

“Yusei,” she hisses, fingers to her temples, “Do you know what time it is?”

He sets her boots down by the bed and drapes his other leather jacket over her shoulders.

“A little past midnight, yeah.”

Despite herself she slips it on, swinging out from under the covers to find an actual pair of pants. As much as she loves the Blue Eyes pajama pants Crow found at the thrift store, they’re not really October outdoor wear.

“I have work tomorrow.” She feels bad for being so annoyed, but she’s exhausted. He should be too. As it is he’s taking her aggravation in stride, almost playful in nature.

“Today,” Yusei corrects, and laughs lowly at the disgusted noise she makes as she flops back down on the bed and fishes for socks. “And no, you don’t. Mikage told you to take the rest of the week off, remember? I have the twins as witnesses.”

“What, you gonna wake them up too? Make it a party?”

Yusei smiles; there’s that excitement again. He’s all wound up, buzzing with as much energy as she’s ever seen him show, tugging her to her feet once she’s finished with her boots. Rana rubs the sleep from her eyes as they exit the garage, and almost nods off leant against the wall as Yusei lifts the shutters and hefts out something under a tarp that looks suspiciously like a D-Wheel. She peers into the gloomy interior as the shutters sink down again - Blackbird, Wheel of Fortune, Yusei GO. Check, check, check. Where did this come from, then?

Yusei disappears under the tarp for a few seconds, and she hears the familiar ‘twang’ of a kickstand popping open, which leaves Yusei free to stand, one hand holding the edge of the tarp and the other beckoning her over.

They stand shoulder to shoulder in the moonlight. Yusei takes the tarp in both hands and yanks hard, and the first thing she sees is a great wing, spread out with horns sharpened to a wicked point, painted silver-sheen blue just like a-

“Blue Eyes.” Rana reaches out in a trance, running her hands over the curve, exhaustion forgotten. The blue wing turns in to match its twin on the other side, cradling the seat of the D-Wheel, and as she takes a step back to look at the whole thing she realises that the vehicle itself is fairly hefty, larger even than Blackwing. Like it was made for someone bigger.

The silhouette looks almost familiar.

Yusei reaches out to flip the engine on, and the blue-white wonder roars to life and _glows_ , bright blue neon flickering to life along the wingspan, on the rims of the white wheels, running along the underbelly of the chassis to light up the floor. Silver strands flit through the lines like a heartbeat, constant and quick.

Rana looks between the D-Wheel and Yusei, who has stood back, grinning as she appraises the motor.

“Can I- I mean, is this- Is this mine?”

“Yeah. You like it?”

“I _love it_ , Yusei, but what’s the occasion?”

Yusei starts, looking a little thrown.

“Do you really not know? Rana, it’s your birthday. As of… ten minutes ago.”

Rana stops short, looking at the date in the corner of the D-Wheel’s HUD. 21/10. Ah.

“I… completely forgot. Things have been so busy, I-“

“I’m not mad, just a little surprised.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Yusei shrugs, standing at her shoulder again to give her side a playful nudge.

“Well, think of it as two birthday presents in one. We didn’t celebrate last years at all, right?”

She wouldn’t of expected him to; they had only just met, and between running from Security and escaping Satellite, there hadn’t been much opportunity to even discuss it, let alone celebrate.

Yusei speaks again, voice filled with warmth.

“Happy birthday, Rana Godwin. Want to try out your new ride?”

“Do I ever,” Rana says, practically bouncing back over to the machine. She swings her leg over the D-Wheel, settling into the seat and curling her fingers around the handlebars-

_And everything is blinding light and purple fire and the roar of straining D-Wheels, Rex above Rudger below, bloody knuckles and bruised thighs clenched around an heirloom in underworld black and sacrifice red, Wiraqocha Rasca looming high and unheavenly and blotting the moon from the sky as it rears back at Godwins frenzied call, her uncle is going to kill her, kill the world, kill-_

“Rana? Rana, wake up. Come back.”

Yusei is leaning over the front wheel, holding her face in his hands with worry etched into the points of his expression. Rana can feel her hands shaking, stray tears leaking from the corners of her eyes, and Yusei sweeps them away as she leans into his touch, face pained.

“This was Rudgers D-wheel. My fathers D-wheel.”

Yusei nods. Her voice cracks under a question.

“Where did you get this? I thought after- after _that_ , it was a wreck.”

He catches a few more tears.

“Everything has a use. We couldn’t salvage much outside the chassis, but figured you’d like something to remember him by. You never say it, but we all know you miss him.”

Rana breathes out, low and shaky. She thought she was over this. It’s been six months since the Dark Signers rose and subsequently fell, and Rana believed she had cried all her tears over the glow of Old Momentum and in the face of her guardians madness. The faded scar of the spider mark burns under her jacket sleeve and she swallows a sob, eyes scrunched closed. Yusei’s hand closes over the place he knows it sits; He bumps their foreheads together, and speaks in a tone filled with quiet, fierce pride.

“It’s yours now. To help you do all the good Rex and Rudger believed you could do, that they themselves could never accomplish.”

Rana slings her arms around his neck, blotting her tears on his shoulder. Her voice comes out muffled and strained.

“You think they’d be proud?”

Yusei steps round to the side of the D-wheel and gathers her up in his arms, holding tight as Rana resumes her position.

“They already were.”

She manages a smile at that, and doesn’t doubt the truth of Yusei’s words; she’s changed so much from the solitary and shy little girl who made friends with spiders and shadows instead of people, wandering the lavish halls of an empty, closed-off home. Her father’s parting smile flashes briefly in her mind's eye.

They stay wrapped up for a long moment, basking in comfortable silence and each other’s warmth warding away the autumn chill and the darker memories behind them.

The hug has gone on a little long, Rana thinks. Not for her, mind you - She’d hold him till the sun came up if he let her - but as always she worries about making others uncomfortable with her presence, and slowly distangles herself from Yusei’s arms. He doesn’t go far, keeping a hand on her back as if to steady her.

“You gonna be okay?”

Rana smiles up at him; it’s a little wobbly, but the tears have stopped. “I’m good, I think. For now. You said something about trying this out?”

He huffs out a laugh, fishing behind her for helmets. “That I did. You ready?”

“Sure am-” Rana cuts off as Yusei slides in behind her; despite the D-Wheel’s size he’s snug against her back, warm and solid, and she hopes he can’t see just how red and flustered she is as she slips her helmet on (Blue Eyes-themed again - she’s so easy to please) and flips the kickstand up with her heel. It’s not that they haven’t been this close before. Rana rode with him nearly every time Yusei took his D-Wheel out after they met, and the Yusei GO is not built to sit two with any sort of room. They share food, they sit all over each other in the garage - they sleep in the same bed! But somehow this simple change in position has her heart doing all sorts of weird skips and jumps. Her stomach flip-flops when he closes his arms around her waist, and Rana is suddenly glad they haven’t had chance to eat yet.

She wonders if Yusei ever gets like this when she settles behind him.

His breath is a sharp contrast to the chilly air, warm against her ear and the exposed skin of her neck, and Rana isn’t sure if she’s imagining the husky tone or not.

“You remember how to do this?”

“Y-Yeah, yeah, I got it,” she stammers, getting a foot on the pedal and revving the engine. The D-Wheel rumbles appreciatively under them, and Yusei’s grip gets imperceptibly tighter around her as they roll out on to the open road.

* * *

The highways are practically empty; late enough that there’s barely any work traffic, and at this cold duelists rarely come out for casual midnight challenges. They have the place pretty much to themselves, and as the D-Wheel steadily picks up speed Rana lets herself fall into the zone. She’s only ever experienced it from behind Yusei, and having the control is somehow so much more freeing. Like a light switch coming on; finally, she understands why Yusei is so enamoured by riding duels, why he always seems to be enjoying himself even under unexpected challenges and strange conditions. It’s _exhilarating_. The chill of the wind rushing against her face doesn’t sting, silver hair and the tails of Yusei’s jacket fluttering, city lights flying by in a blur, brighter against the blue-black of the night sky. Even now, just riding, not even dueling, there’s something so uniquely special about it. Laughter bubbles out of her throat from nowhere, and it only takes a few seconds for Yusei to join her.

“So I may not have a great metric to go on, but this? This is a really good birthday!”

“Good, I’m glad. When you were crying earlier I thought we’d made a mistake.”

“I think I was just overwhelmed. I have some pretty harsh memories associated with what this D-Wheel used to be, after all.”

“Then we should make some new ones, right?”

“Right!”

Rana flexes her foot on the accelerator again, and the D-Wheel jumps forward as they ascend the lanes. They get a little further, and Rana almost laughs again as she realises where she’s been unconsciously taking them.

* * *

They roll to a gentle stop at the bluff; That bluff, the quietest place in the city, the place they always both seem to end up when they’re troubled or in need of each other and no-one else. She’s sure it’s her imagination telling her that Yusei is lingering, that he takes just a little longer than necessary to pull his arms from around her and to straighten up away from her back as they pull their helmets off and step away from the D-Wheel, wandering lazily up to the railing.

The city is alive beneath them, lights and movement pulsing like a heartbeat. Their city. It’s whole again thanks to both their efforts, something they’re loath to let each other forget. They stand shoulder to shoulder, watching the night life flicker past in silence. Silence that would usually be comfortable; as it is, Yusei is fidgeting with the finger of his glove, looking like he has something to say, as Rana watches from the corner of her eye, still flushed from the close contact on the D-Wheel. She clears her throat.

“So… Nice night tonight.”

“Yeah, it is, huh.”

There’s a few beats of silence, and Rana debates just turning around and taking them back on to the road because the tension in the air is as unbearable as it is palpable. She opens her mouth to suggest it, and Yusei turns all at once, nervous energy rolling off him in waves. For someone usually so calm and straightforward, Yusei is buzzing again with _something_. And the look on his face; he’s nervous but also… guilty?

“I was selfish, doing this.” He starts, suddenly. Rana’s eyes fly wide in honest shock.

“Selfish? What do you mean?”

“Waking you up. Showing you the D-Wheel. Taking you out on it. We were all going to show you together, tomorrow morning. I think the others have presents to go with it. But I took you out anyway.”

“Look, if you’re that worried, I’m pretty good at faking surprise. I had Rex as a parental figure for sixteen years, after all.”

Yusei shakes his head, turning back toward the skyline and gripping the railing like a lifeline.

“It’s not just that. I could have easily taken my own D-Wheel out tonight. Let you get a feel for riding on your own, maybe even challenged you to a duel. But instead I was selfish again. I wanted to be close to you, in the way you’re always close to me.”

Now was a shock. They had many close interactions, habits and touches that could easily be construed as romantic, but Rana had never let herself think of them that way, too afraid of the possibility of rejection, too afraid to lose her closest and best friend. If Yusei had been feeling that way too, then…

“Yusei,” she starts, slowly, stepping up to his side and peering up into the blue of his eyes, “How do you feel about me?”

She can hear her heartbeat in her ears, and clenches her hands into fists to try and will away the tremble that runs through them.

He turns, and they’re so close, almost chest to chest, and he looks down at her with a tenderness she has seen all but once in the months she’s known him. His voice is low and soft, and she swears she can see him shake.

“I feel pride when I see you take on new experiences. I feel fear when I see you get hurt, pain when you’re upset, joy when you’re happy. If you smile, I feel like I can smile too. Whatever challenges I’ve faced, you’ve always stood at my side. I think… I think I would have given up a long time ago if not for you.”

Yusei takes her hands, holding them up to his chest; his heartbeat thunders under her fingers, and she’s sure that hers would feel the same.

“This doesn’t happen with anyone else. You make me… you make me _feel_ so much sometimes I can barely breath. When you faced Rudger, when Rex attacked you with Rasca’s special ability, when you got _hurt_ , I couldn’t- I couldn’t-“

He chokes on the words, visibly strained, and she knows; remembering him in pain hurts just as much. The scar on his stomach has finally started to turn silvery-white, and her own burns and scars from Rasca and Uru show stark against her skin. Rana takes her hands back to hold his face, stroking her thumbs under his eyes.

“It’s okay, Yusei. Breathe.”

“I- Ah, yeah,” he manages, leaning into her touch; she slows her breathing, and his eventually evens out to match. A familiar ritual. The worry slowly bleeds out of his expression, and Rana starts to speak, quietly.

“Do you remember when you fought Kiryu for the first time?”

They both look down almost subconsciously, as if expecting the shard of jagged metal to still be embedded in Yusei’s torso. Her hands slide down to rest over the area and she can almost see it; the ruddy colour of blood, the gash in Yusei’s shirt and skin, orange rust and cold grey metal in the darkness.

“I stayed by your bed all night. I’d never seen someone with an injury like that before. I was convinced that if I left or even looked away for a second you’d die. The thought alone terrified me.”

“I remember. You were fast asleep when I woke up, but you wouldn’t let go of my hand.”

There’s a smile dancing at the edge of his lips, and Rana huffs, if good-naturedly.

“I told you, I was worried! Martha told me to go and sleep so many times but I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave you like that. I never had anyone to worry about before you - it took up my whole mind, and there was so much _else_ to worry about, what with Kiryu and the other Dark Signers and all those lost souls-“

She tilts her face back up, and meets his eyes - he must of been looking at her already, watching with a gentle intensity.

“-But all I could think about was you.”

She’s not really thinking, as Yusei tilts his head down and she presses up onto her toes to meet him; they fit against each other like they were made to be there, and when they kiss the world seems to shift, just slightly, as if something has finally clicked into place. For a few seconds, everything falls away - the WGRP, Yliaster, the aftershocks of the Dark Signers - down to just the two of them. The gentle press of hands and lips, warmth blooming in the darkness.

Rana huffs against him, breaking away and ducking her head. Her face is on fire, and she flushes harder again at his worried expression and the breathless quality of his voice.

“Rana? Was that too soon?”

“N-No! No, it was- ...It was amazing. I-I’ve never done this before, though, I’m- uh, a little... self conscious.”

Yusei starts, and stops, shaking his head and laughing against the crown of her silver waves.

“You’re doing great, Rana.”

She hides her face in her hands, and makes a ridiculous, pathetic noise.

“D-Don’t laugh! I’m nervous! I want this to be right.”

Yusei carefully takes her hands, and she shivers as he puts one to his lips, grazing her knuckles as he murmurs against them, “It is right.”

A sudden rush of heat floods her, top to toe, and the words leave her in a breathless rush: “Can you kiss me again?”

Rana is pretty sure it’s impossible to blush any harder than she already is, but she can’t stop herself from asking; it feels like she’s going to explode if Yusei doesn’t do something more than lay soft kisses against her fingertips, deep blues holding her gaze the whole time. He smiles, and presses one last kiss to her palm and bends to her face again, and she can’t be imagining the fact that he presses harder this time, only a slight, but enough, and the soft noise he makes when Rana finds her rhythm and starts to kiss him back is heavenly. He winds his arms around her back and shoulders again, holding her as close as he can as Rana slides her hands up to touch his neck, cup his jaw, and she feels the muscles jump as they break apart with a gasp, still too close to see, noses brushing. It’s downright intoxicating, dizzying, how something so simple could leave her feeling so different, as she presses back up to him and captures his lips again.

* * *

Rana isn’t sure how long they’ve been out; she left her phone and watch at the garage, and the HUD on the D-Wheel is all the way over _there_ , away from the railing and from Yusei and his kisses and touches that are steadily growing in intensity. If humans could steam Rana’s pretty sure she would be, and after a particularly searing kiss that draws sounds from her she’s never made before in her life she holds her hands up in front of his face. Yusei blinks, thrown, twisting a lock of her hair round his finger.

“Rana?”

“I think I’m gonna combust.”

“Want to stop?”

“Yeah, for now. I just- this is still really new to me. Think I’m getting-“

“-Overwhelmed?”

“...Yeah. Hah. Sorry.”

“I’d rather you tell me.”

“Mhm. Thanks, Yusei.”

Rana sinks her face into his chest, and they both go back to watching Neo Domino, alive beneath them. The silence is comfortable once again, but there’s something _more_ to it, something softer, warmth permeating their atmosphere, wrapping them up like a blanket.

“...I take it back.”

“Hm?”

“Not a good birthday. Best birthday. Hands down. Period.”

“Ah. That's good to hear.”

The silence resumes, but she can't shake the feeling that there's something she's missing still, some part of this she's overlooked. Rana burrows as far into Yusei’s embrace as she can; the chill is starting to sneak in again, biting at her nose and the tips of her fingers digging into the back of his riding jacket. Grey-green eyes scan the skyline, the tangle of colours and lights that compromises Neo Domino. She snags on a billboard, flashing up images of the news. A few stills of her cross the screen from a talk she gave last week, and then over to her entering the PMD building yesterday; some TV personality is breaking down her outfits and the people she wore them next to, again - more speculation about her relationship status is bound to follow.

Oh. _Oh_. That’s where that niggling anxiety came from. Her subconscious has beat her to the punch once again.

She wonders if he’ll be able to handle it, the incessant spotlight. Everything becomes ten times more difficult, from getting dressed to going out to eat to picking up groceries. Mikage does her best to keep Rana’s private life exactly that, but Rana isn’t one to be cooped up, at least not anymore. Yusei lives on freedom; it’s driven him to where he stands today. She can’t, won’t change him. When words gets out they’re dating- God, the media will have a field day. The new Director, Godwin’s heir, and the Fortune Cup champion, hero of Satellite? A couple? Rana can already see the headlines.

Are they even a couple? Is that what he wants? Rana’s thoughts twist themselves into knots, falling down a veritable rabbit hole of ‘what ifs’. But Yusei has always encouraged her to speak her mind. They don’t hide things from each other. She should just ask. Just. Ask.

“So, uhm. Uh, Yusei?” She breaks the silence tentatively, frowning, flustered. He shifts back enough to catch her gaze, humming questioningly. She flounders, the words tumbling out in a rush.

“W-What exactly are we, now? Is it too soon to say, uh, dating? I mean I’m not sure what else to call it, I mean we’re not friends anymore- Well, we are, but not _just_ friends, we’re something more now and that should probably be defined just for the other’s sake if nothing else and I’d like to know your opinion because I don’t want to move too fast and-“

  
“ _Rana_.”

 

Rana blinks, thrown out of her nonsensical, worry-fueled rambling. He bends, and her eyes flutter shut in anticipation of a kiss. Instead, he rests their foreheads together, rubbing circles into the small of her back.

“Do you _want_ to date?”

Want. It always throws her off guard, when people ask what she _wants_ , because so often it’s just not important. It’s about what the city needs, what her friends need, what the world needs. Barely ever about want, and rarer still to be about what she wants specifically. But she does. She wants the certainty of a relationship, wants that incredibly soft feeling that just imagining Yusei calling her his girlfriend is giving her right now. She leans forward just a little, and their lips brush as she answers.

“Yeah. I’d- I’d like that.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> i dont think im done with this ill be real.
> 
> edit: big up to yugirl-with-dragons on tumblr for some amazing art to go with this fic!
> 
> https://kal-sharok.tumblr.com/post/185151536717/so-its-been-a-minute-since-ive-been-on-desktop


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